In Focus: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Learn more about the institutes we support through our In Focus series.

Posted On: September 13, 2018

QIMR Berghofer is one of Australia’s most successful medical research institutes and was established in 1945 by the Queensland Government. It has a rich history of scientific discoveries and translational medical research.

Working in close collaboration with clinicians and other research institutes, QIMR Berghofer is home to almost 1000 scientists, students and support staff.

The Institute has an active program for the patenting and commercialisation of technologies, including those developed in conjunction with academic or commercial collaborators.

QIMR Berghofer also has facilities for the GMP manufacture of cell-based and molecular therapies, namely Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics. Also co-located within the Institute is a commercial Phase I/II clinical trials facility, Q-Pharm Pty Ltd, allowing QIMR Berghofer scientists and external clients the extended and unique capability for taking research findings from the laboratory bench to the hospital bedside.

QIMR Berghofer researchers rely on community donations and philanthropic support to ensure their crucial research can continue, today and into the future. Unlike other not-for-profits, at QIMR Berghofer 100 percent of all donations go to research, ensuring all gifts to the Institute achieve maximum impact.

Dr Bryan Day
Bryan Day is Team Head, Translational Brain Cancer Research Laboratory (QIMR Berghofer) and Sid Faithfull Fellow. Prior to this appointment in 2015, he was Leukaemia Foundation Research Unit (QIMR Berghofer) Postdoctoral Scientist for seven years.

The Translational Brain Cancer Research Laboratory studies the most common and aggressive forms of brain cancer. In adults, that is glioblastoma, and in paediatric patients, it is medulloblastoma.

Dr Day’s focus is on understanding the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the initiation and recurrence of brain cancers, and to develop and test new, more effective therapies to treat these aggressive diseases.

One of Dr Day’s career highlights is the establishment of a brain cancer tissue and culture bank at QIMR Berghofer.